The present invention relates to a device for dispensing a volatile insecticide or repellent (hereinafter referred to as insect killer) having a sheet impregnated with an insecticidal component which volatilizes at an ordinary temperature.
A conventional insect killer widely used comprises a mat impregnated with a solution of an insecticidal component and a heating device for holding the mat and heating it by a heater, wherein the insecticidal component is vaporized and diffused into the atmosphere. In such an insect killer, the active component-volatilizing time is generally about 8 hours per one mat. Such an insect killer is a most popular one.
For the purpose of vaporizing the insecticide and diffusing it into the atmosphere, the above heating-type insect killer essentially has a heater-equipped heating device for heating the mat impregnated with the insecticide solution. Thus, such an insect killer has the problem that it cannot be used without an outlet for supplying power to the heater.
On the other hand, some ordinary temperature-volatilizing agents are known, which can diffuse an insecticidal component without heating. However, the ordinary temperature-volatilizing agents capable of diffusing the non-heated insecticidal component can provide a low diffusion efficiency depending on the type of the insecticidal component, because the vaporized insecticide can stay around the insecticide source in a saturated state so that additional diffusion of the insecticide can be inhibited.
As disclosed in Patent Literature 1 listed below, such an ordinary temperature-volatilizing agent is often applied to an insect repellent, for example, which is housed in a container comprising male and female parts 101 and 102 (as shown in FIGS. 13(a) and 13(b)) bonded together and which is placed for use in a relatively narrow space such as a chest and a closet.
The applicant has previously proposed an insect killer in Patent Literature 2 or 3 listed below.
Referring to FIG. 14, Patent Literature 2 discloses an insect killer 200 including: insecticide carriers 201 of paper impregnated with an insecticidal component which volatilizes at an ordinary temperature; and a spiral spring 202 as a power source, wherein the insecticide carriers 201 are driven and rotated by the restoring force of the spiral spring 202.
In such a structure, the insecticide carriers 201 are driven and rotated so that the saturated state of the insecticidal component can be avoided and that the diffusion of the insecticidal component can be facilitated near the surface of each insecticide carrier 201. Thus, the insecticide-diffusion efficiency can be increased so that the insect killer can be used in a relatively wide space such as a living room. Additionally, the structure using the spiral spring as a power source needs no external energy supply source such as an electric outlet.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-153197 published on May 28, 2002
Patent Literature 2: JP-A No. 2000-197438 published on Jul. 18, 2000
Patent Literature 3: JP-A No. 2001-114615 published on Apr. 24, 2001